CMS announces regulatory relief for VBC programs in response to COVID-19

Editor's Note

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on March 22 extended the deadlines for quality reporting and applications for providers, clinicians, and facilities in value-based care (VBC) programs as they face a growing number of COVID-19 patients.

CMS also announced that it will not use any data reflecting services provided from January 1 through June 30, 2020, in its calculations for Medicare quality reporting and VBC programs. The agency says: “This is being done to reduce the data collection and reporting burden on providers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

CMS will continue monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and assess options to bring additional relief to responders and their staffs so they can focus on caring for patients.